Sunday, October 28, 2012

I have been spending a bit of time at my local yarn shop, “Grandma’s Beads and Yarn”. I typically knit there with a group of friends on Thursdays in the afternoon but, once in a while, especially since school is back in session, I find myself at the knit shop a little more often. Michelle, the shop’s owner, loves to show me the new yarn that arrives each week; she is really a hoot. She won’t just let you look at the yarn; she hands it to you so you can really appreciate how nice and soft it is. Michelle’s favorite adjective for yarn is “yummy,” as in… “isn’t this yarn YUMMY?!” and as she says this, her eyes get really big, she sort of arches her eyebrows, and she doesn’t blink as she looks at your face to see your reaction to the yarn. Yep, she’s a hoot and quite the sales person. And, of course, I am more than happy to help support this shop.This week I bought some new yarn by Classic Elite Yarn called “Liberty Wool Light” in a color way featuring shades of blues, off-white, and lavender. The yarn comes in some interesting color ways and surprising color combinations. Liberty Wool Light is “sport weight” and it knit up quickly this weekend into a pair of comfy socks I plan to wear around the house.They are YUMMY. I am not sure this is the best yarn for socks... it's all wool and contains no nylon to help them keep their shape (I think that's what nylon does). But these socks are are great for lounging on the sofa, which is precisely what I intend to do... time to cast on another pair of socks! I am in a sock-sort-of mood. I get that way sometimes.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Striped Infinity Scarf (my 3rd time making this pattern... I love it!)

October Knit A-long called "Intertwisted"
Clue #1 on the left with Clue #2 to the right of that. Clue #3 is in the works.

Fall is a busy time of year. Now that the high school tennis season is over, the leaves in the yard are keeping us busy. I have been spending a lot of time cooking and baking, mowing and mulching leaves, knitting and knitting... and that pesky full-time job of mine keeps me busy too. I am trying to find a good balance between being active and being sedentary. I've noticed in the four years I have been knitting, it's really easy to forgo exercise when I am excited to knit. But balance is important. This fall, I have enjoyed going for lots of walks but, now that it's getting cold out, I've been checking out classes offered at the gym. So far I am liking yoga. In the evenings I find a bit of time to knit. I am working on three things right now and all are patterns from Michelle Hunter (patterns on her blog www.knitpurlhunter.com) As you can tell, I am a big fan of her patterns?!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

I made these socks over the past few weeks. I used "Tofutsies" yarn which is made out of soy silk, merino wool, and chitin (made from lobster and crab shells). Pretty wild, huh?

I did not realize it until I was knitting these socks that the colors in the yarn are my high school colors. Doh! My friend "K2" likes to point that out and tease me about that.

"Seriously Kim? Our high school colors? What were you thinking!?" We went to Aloha High School in Beaverton, Oregon. Go Warriors! Blue-Gold-Green! Oh, and just so you know "Aloha" is pronounced "uh-lowwa"... not "uh-low-HA". It's important. Trust me.

My first short row heels. I followed the instructions for the short row heel in the book called "Socks a la Carte". The book exclusively uses Tofutsies yarn in the patterns. I can see why; the yarn is so nice and comes in a variety of nice colors.

It's all about knitting!

I learned to knit in October 2008, just after I turned 40. My plan is to use site to post photos of my projects... to share with family and friends and anyone else who may stumble across my corner of the World Wide Web. My other hobbies include baking, cooking, crocheting, hiking, & exercising... I often say I have so many hobbies that I have to rotate them! I am sure photos of other things that interest me will find their way on to this site as well. Maybe even a recipe or two... time will only tell!